Egypt's Adventure
by PharaohsLuver
Summary: AtemxOC in Ancient Egypt. Aku and Atem have been friends since they were kids and she thought that they were just friends. But when various 'bad guys' separate the two, she starts to learn how much she really feels for Atem. What will happen between this couple? Original story is the first chapter and it's kind of rough writing. You can skip it, the prequel starts after.
1. It all happens

BANG! I woke with a start to the sound of a huge crash, it was so loud that Atem next to me also woke up, and he is a very heavy sleeper. We both jumped out of our king sized bed and quickly threw on some clothes, appropriate for a Pharaoh and his Queen. Atem's tunic was a long piece of white cloth with a golden belt and a blue strip of silk on the bottom half, giving the appearance of that it was two pieces. My clothing was a flowing purple, sleeveless dress with golden bangles on both of my wrists, inscribed with the Egyptian Eye of Horus, and my engagement ring on a golden chain around my neck.

"Aku, do you know what that was?" Atem asked me as I was closing the clinch on my belt for my dress. He looked tired, with the tips of his spiky multi-colored hair drooping down.

"I don't know, but I know we're about to find out." I answered. We walked out of the gigantic room and raced to the throne room. Inside there was Atem's priests, Seto, Mahad, and Isis, all of them with curious looks on their faces.

"My Pharaoh, we have sent men out to go find the source of the sound." Mahad informed. Mahad was a tall man, with sharp hazel eyes, and a purple staff in his right hand, he was our head magician after all.

"Good, but I'd also like to inform you that both Aku and I will be searching as well." He claimed, with a challenging look on his face, as if daring his priests to stop him. Seto, a well built, blue-eyed, icey man, sighed and looked at the other priests, and they nodded back at him.

"We will not stop you, but we will go with you two." Seto conceded. Atem glanced over at me and I gave him a sneaky smirk, leaned over and whispered in his ear.

"Not all of them, Mahad can come, but only him." I whispered into his right ear, he nodded and relayed my order to the priests. They all didn't look surprised, this happened quite often. They nodded their assent, and Atem, Mahad, and I headed off to the stables. After we tacked our mounts, we headed off towards the direction where we had heard the crash.

It was already sunrise when we finally saw area of impact. There was a huge crater right in the ground, at the sight of construction for the new temple of Bastet. It appeared that whatever had fallen had crashed with an incredible amount of speed. We carefully slid down the hill, Atem and I holding on to each other to make sure that neither of us fell. At the bottom there was a small stone, glittering in the growing light of the morning. The stone shimmered with a variety of colors, there were purples, pinks, yellows, and greens, looking like rainbow in the sky after a shower of rain. I leaned forward, tore a strip from my dress and carefully plucked the stone from the center of the crater.

"It's so beautiful." Atem mumbled, with a look of awe in his eyes, I nodded agreement. Mahad walked forward, closed his eyes and held out his staff, he started humming and after a few seconds he flew his eyes open. He fell to his knee, breathing heavily.

"Such strong magic...so much that it rivals the gods!" Mahad said, gasping for air. My eyes widened, the gods of egypt were the most powerful beings in the world, it was impossible that this tiny sliver of stone could be as powerful as the omnipotent deities. I never told this to Atem, the goddess of love, Hathor, was my ultimate favorite god, even though Ra was meant to be the most revered deity. Hathor was the embodiment of all love, and her sacred animal was a monkey, my favorite animal. It was believed that the Goddess of Love would travel down to the ground in the form of a monkey and help mortals find true love.

Anyway, back to the present, Mahad got back up on his feet and lifted his staff again. He hummed again, and slowing a golden aura started surrounding the stone.

"I will hold on to the stone until I figure out what it is, I have a few ideas of where to start." He informed us. I glanced over at Atem, who nodded at Mahad, then started towards me. He cupped my cheek in his large calloused hands, and looked in my azure eyes.

"I am not going to stop Mahad from discovering what that thing is. If it is a danger to our kingdom, I want to know." I leaned into his hand, and nodded my 'okay', he smiled and took his palm from my face. We walked towards our horses, which we had left at the top of the crater.

*LE TIMESKIP, ONE WEEK LATER*

I was sitting in the throne room on my huge throne, though it was smaller than Atem's, listening to the grievances of our people. This was a tradition that Atem's father had brought back, though Atem thought it was just a way to give anyone on the throne severe 'fanny fatigue'. I personally thought it was the best part of running the kingdom, listening to our peoples' ideas of how we could make this kingdom more successful.

Slowly I became aware that I was not feeling well, the kind of 'not well' that you can't really describe what's wrong, but you know something's wrong. I stood up carefully and leaned over to Atem's ear.

"I am going to go find Isis." I whispered. He glanced at me, worry laced in his eyes, but nodded. Taking my leave, I kissed his cheek and walked out of the throne room.

Isis was in her usual place, in front of a blue fire praying to the gods. I glided towards her, purposely making noise with my steps, so she could hear me coming. She turned her body and bowed.

"My Lady, how can I help you?" She respectively asked.

"I'm feeling unwell, and please stop bowing, we're friends." I replied. She hesitantly straightened out and took my hand, leading me to the bed in the corner of the room. I stretched out on it and nodded to Isis that she could begin her inspection.

"What are your symptoms?" She asked.

"Nausea, and Fatigue." I stated. She thought for a second, then she got a glint in her eyes, like she knew something I didn't.

"My Queen, you are with child."

My eyes widened at least an inch. I was shocked, but as I thought about it, my shock turned into euphoria. A huge smile cracked onto my face, I sat up, thanked Isis, and walked out to go find Atem, our child's father.

When I reached the throne room Atem was just walking out of the door, looking like he had just stayed awake for two days straight. I walked up to him stealthily, wanting to sneak up on him. When I was two feet away, I pounced, wrapping my arms and legs around his muscular form.

Unsteadily, he caught me, remaining upright, he didn't even have to turn around to know who it was, my flaming red hair somewhat falling on his shoulders. He chuckled and placed me down, before picking me up again, this time bridal style. We touched noses, in an eskimo kiss, and he started walking towards our bedroom.

Before we had even made it past the second corner, Mahad came running up to us, out of breath and sweating.

"Woah, slow down there Mahad. What happened?" Atem asked. Mahad quickly got back his breath and looked at us.

"I found out what that stone is!" Mahad exclaimed. Our eyes widened, and Atem nearly dropped me, causing me to throw my arms around his neck, to stop me from falling. "It's a crystallized form of a fallen star! More importantly, part of the star that forms the constellation Draco!" Mahad blurted.

"That would explain the immense power within it." I pointed out.

"Can we go see the stone?" Atem asked. Mahad nodded, turned around, leading us to his study. Though, as always, we were intercepted before we got there.

"Great Pharaoh, My Lady! I bring grave news!" A soldier shouted. My heart fell at those words, and my brain tortured me with the possibilities of what could have happened. When the soldier caught up with us he stopped and caught his breath slightly. "The….Persians...are nearing the….palace gates." He explained, still out of breath.

"WHAT?!" Atem and I bellowed, and this time Atem really did drop me. We had been at war with the Persians for over a decade, it was a war that Atem's father passed down to the new, still young pharaoh. This war had burdened Atem so much that after some meetings, he would walk into our room, mumble a greeting and then collapse onto the bed and fall asleep.

I stood up from my place on the ground, rubbing my behind, and glared at Atem. He looked sheepish in response of my glare, but the look was replaced by a look of determination.

"Gather the men," Atem started, but then looked over to me, remembering that I didn't feel well earlier. "Aku, go with Mahad and go hide."

"No Atem, I going to stay with you!" I calmly said. "And as much you want to keep me safe, I'm safest with you." Atem looked mad for a second, but as he thought about it, he realized that I was right.

"Fine, I can never win an argument with you." Atem conceded. "Mahad, you will stay with her though."

"Of course." Mahad said, while bowing. We started jogging towards the throne room, where the rest of the priests will be waiting for us. And yet again someone stopped us before we got there.

"Now I've got you 'almighty' Pharaoh! We're here for the Stargem!" A man yelled at us, hidden by the shadows of the columns that line the hall. He walked out of the shadows, revealing the Emperor of Persia himself, with a crossbow in his hand.

"Stargem? What is that?" I questioned. The fallen star, is that the Stargem? I thought. The emperor smirked at my obliviousness.

"What do you think it is?" He asked, while subtly raising his arm that had the crossbow in it. "Now, give me the Stargem or your wife dies!" the emperor demanded of Atem. I knew he was in tough spot, place an obviously powerful object in the hands of the enemy, or lose me and our child, though he didn't know about the latter yet. I looked at him and nodded, confidently thinking that I could dodge the arrow.

"You're taking too long!" the emperor interrupted. "Now your beloved wife dies!"

"NO!"

Time seemed to slow down as the emperor shot the arrow straight at me. I froze, my body unable to move, as the arrow zoomed towards me. I closed my eyes, thinking it was the end for me. And then the arrow struck…...but I didn't feel any pain.

I opened my eyes, and in front of me was Atem on the ground….with an arrow sticking out of his side.

"ATEM!" I shrieked, I then turned on the emperor and shouted, "You idiot!" I stalked towards him, a black aura surrounding me as I summoned my anger. "For the rest of your pathetic life, you shall feel like you have your own arrow stuck in your side! Penalty Game, 'Reap what was Sown'!" He crumpled to the ground in the fetal position. I fell to the ground in exhaustion and crawled towards my husband. "Atem….don't die on me." I pleaded.

"I don't plan on it." Atem mumbled, not being able to speak loudly from the pain.

"Mahad, help me get him to Isis!" Mahad shook his head, finally getting out his shock, and helped me carry Atem to the medicine wing of the palace. We had to turn around a few times, from some of the palace being destroyed by the Persians. The Persians had retreated when the news of me defeating him carried over to them.

*5 weeks later*

Atem and I sat in our room, on our king sized bed, just talking and laughing. I had already told him that I was pregnant, I told him about a week after the ordeal with the Persians. Atem was completely healed and only had a small scar on his right side, from the arrow. Two months ago we had locked away the Stargem in an empty tomb, never to be found again, and so everything was perfect in our happy kingdom of Egypt. I smiled as he leaned in to give me a chaste kiss on the lips.


	2. When They Realize Pt1

**A/N: This story was originally a oneshot, but I figured "What the Heck" so I did a side story of when they started getting feelings for each other.**

**I just want to thank 'Angel of Darkness Blue' for 'Story Alerting' and 'Queen of the Water' for reviewing, faving, AND alerting, and 'The 8 elements' for reviewing! Luv you alll!**

I was traveling with my father to Egypt where his friend was the Pharaoh. That happens when you're royalty from Scotland. Anyway, it was just another day of traveling when I saw a small form on the side of the road.

"Stop!" I called out from my spot inside the carriage. I leaped out of the vehicle and ran to the form that was lying still on the ground.

"Akutaka! What are you doing?!" My father, the King of Scotland, called out at me.

I didn't respond, I just kept my eyes on the form as I moved to my knees in front of it.

It was a monkey! I had only seen them before in stories. I put my index finger on its throat and felt a weak pulse.

"Father! It's still alive!" I called out.

"Eric, go get some water." I heard my father say. He was used to this. When ever I would see an animal, no matter the size, that was hurt, I would always try to help it.

Soon a fair skinned hand passed me a container of water. I took it, not looking at the person who handed to me.

"Thanks." I muttered quietly. I lowered the container down near the monkey, and dribbled some of our cool clear water on to its lips.

And miraculously, the monkey slowly opened its eyes and stared weakly up at me. I smiled at gently picked it up, and held it carefully in my arms as I started back for the carriage.

"Are you going to bring that to Egypt?" My father asked.

"If it takes that long to recover, yes. And even then I might keep it as a pet." I answered bravely. My father sighed and just got back into the carriage. "Eric? Can you put some water in a small container and get me an eye dropper?" I asked. He nodded and walked off to our supply cart.

I walked back over to my carriage, still holding the dehydrated monkey in my arms. I got in and Eric handed me my requests and as soon as he sat down the servants carriage, our caravan took off again.

* * *

THE NEXT DAY

I woke up to the sound of the jumping around the carriage.

"Well it's seems you're feeling better." I said to the monkey, which stopped jumping around, looked at me and nodded enthusiastically. "Since you seem to answer my questions, are you a boy or a girl?" The monkey paused for a second before pointing at me and jumping up and down. "So you're a Girl! Hmmm, now what to call you...Kiya! It means monkey in Egyptian!" I suggested and the monkey started jumping about again. "I guess you approve." I laughed.

Ten minutes later the carriage stopped. I put my hand out to Kiya, who crawled up my arm and sat on my shoulder. I cuddled her for a second, and then opened the door of the carriage. I jumped out, and gazed around at my surroundings.

Coming to Egypt always brought shivers down my spine, it was always so mystical. I haven't told my father yet, but I secretly have been studying the Egyptian religion and practicing it. Their gods always felt more real then the ones back in Scotland, so I switched. If I told my father...well let's just say, he wouldn't be happy. My father was a very traditional man, always doing things the exact same way our forefathers did thousands of years ago. Even when our technology has developed so much that things are done faster and better, he sticks with the tradition.

All around me were temples of assorted gods and goddesses. I saw a temple for Hapi, the goddess of the Nile, one for Thoth, the god of knowledge, and the one straight in front of me was the most decorated. I immediately knew who's temple it belonged to. Ra. The God of the gods and the god who brought light to the Egyptians everyday after a night full of fighting Apophis, the embodiment of chaos. Ra was the most important of the gods.

When I finally snapped out of my reverie, I looked back at the caravan and saw that others were also getting out of the carriages and getting to work. I walked up to the carriage where I knew that my father was in and knocked on the door.

"Father, we've arrived!" I called in. I think I woke him up from a nap, given that he had loudly grunted. Oops. Oh well.

"Okay! Thank you Akutaka." My father responded. I stepped away from the door just as my father opened it. He looked around, nodded, and then stepped out. "i guess I should go check that the servants are okay." My father said before walking away towards the carriage that had all of the people walking around it.

I continued looking around the courtyard that we had stopped at, there were bushes with flowers that I had never seen before, statues of different gods and goddesses, and, oh gods! A fountain! It was the most magnificent one I had ever seen! I mean, sure we had nice fountains back home, but this one just blew them all away.

It was ten feet in diameter and two feet in depth, and the sculptures at the top were so amazingly done I nearly cried. They two horses embracing each other and on the horses were two people. The one on the right was a man with pharaonic clothing, a beard, and eyes that looked so kind and loving. The man was looking at the sculpture on the left, which was of a woman. She was in clothing that was definitely fit for a queen, she was staring right back at the man with the same amount of love in her eyes as the man.

I felt a tear fall on my face, and then fur rubbing against it. I smiled, almost forgetting about Kiya.

"Sorry girl. It just reminds me of my mother." I croaked out.

My mother had been a kind woman, of no noble blood, and met her father by saving his life when he was bit by a poisonous snake. She had sucked out all of the poison and saved him from certain death. My father had repaid her by asking her to stay in the palace with him. Of course with her being an orphan, she had accepted. Slowly the two fell in love and got married. When my father became king, she, of course, became queen. A year after the coronation, they had me. My mother was not a weak person in personality or courage, but her body failed her after giving birth to me, and she died.

I slapped myself. 'STOP THINKING ABOUT THAT!' I told myself. 'It only brings up bad memories.'

I sat down on the side of the fountain, and closed my eyes, trying to get my thoughts on to another subject.

"Miss? Are you okay?" A kind voice asked me. I opened my eyes at the sound of the voice. 'I know that voice.' I thought.

I turned around and saw a man in deep purple robes with gold trim, a grey beard, and brown eyes. I blinked and then jumped up and quickly put my left foot forward, like my studies had told me to do in the presence of this man. He was the PHARAOH! I bowed and waited for him to say something.

"I might be Pharaoh, but that doesn't mean that every person that I meet has to act like their meeting Ra almighty in the flesh. Please, let me see your face." The Pharaoh said like he was annoyed but then softening his tone at the end.

I straightened and looked at the Pharaoh. He sighed and then smiled at me.

"There, now I can see your beautiful azure eyes." He said smiling at me. It was the kind of smile that my father would give me when I did something that pleased him. "Now then. Can you tell me where I can find your father?"

I gawked. "You know who I am?"

"Of course I do! I've practically seen you grow up here! I've seen you every time you've visited Egypt with your father." The Pharaoh exclaimed. "Besides, it's kind of hard to forget someone with your looks. You're very unique here in Egypt with your red hair and light colored eyes."

Well that was very true. I had the classic Scottish red hair, and the eyes were from my mother who had slight Scandinavian roots. Also, I had pale skin from not being in the sun everyday of my life.

"I guess so... well my father is over at the supply carriage, making sure the servants are alright." I answered his question.

"Then I'll have to bid you goodbye until later." The Pharaoh said while turning to the caravan of carriages.

"Right. Well, see you later." I said while awkwardly nodding. What? It's not everyday you get to meet and talk with the Pharaoh. I then walked towards the carriage that I had been in during the traveling, petting Kiya as I went. I reached in and grabbed my green bag that I always keep with me when we travel. I stuffed a hand in it and pulled out an raspberry. A Scottish specialty. I was about place it in my mouth when a tiny hand reached out and grabbed it. And that hand was hairy.

"Kiya! That was mine!" I whined at the fruit stealing monkey on my shoulder, who was presently stuffing my treat into her mouth. I put my head down in mourning of my lost raspberry.

"Aku! It's time to go inside!" My father called from the other edge of the courtyard. I ran over to him and joined him and the Pharaoh in walking to the Palace.

* * *

AFTER TEN MINUTES OF WALKING

"Oh I am SOOO burned." I said while poking my red skin. "Ouch."

"Then don't touch it." My father jokingly said. I just stuck my tongue out at him in retaliation, and he chuckled. We'd entered the Palace about five minutes ago, so I'd only been outside for about 15 minutes, and yet I'd still gotten burned out the wazoo. I glanced again down at my sore skin and winced.

That's when things went bad.

"Kiya! Where are you going?!" I screamed after my monkey who had just jumped off my shoulder and streaked down the hallway. I chased after her, leaving my father and the Pharaoh with wide eyes that followed after me. "KIYA!" I yelled again.

She turned down a hallway, and as soon as I followed, my eyes widened. I tried to stop, I really did, but I ended up running into the guy who was walking down that corridor.

"Crap!" I yelled when I hit the guy, and we both went sprawling onto the floor. We tumbled around for a few seconds and ended up with me straddling the guys waist, and laying on his chest. I sat up quickly and looked at the guy and blushed.

And he did too.

The guy was really toned, really tan (more than likely because he was egyptian), and he was wearing really good quality clothing. I looked up at his face, which was really handsome, he had crimson eyes that were complimented by the iconic heavy makeup, and he had the most amazing hair. It was black with magenta edges and gold bangs. And it stuck up at odd angles. Oh crap.

"ATEM?!" I exclaimed, blushing furiously. My face was probably the color of a raspberry by now. And then something clicked.

I was still on top of him.

I shrieked, and quickly got off of him.

"Aku?!" Atem questioned, still thinking slowly because of the fall, but then he shook his head. "I though we weren't expecting you until tonight."

I was still in shock and I looked around. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the cause of this entire problem. Of course now that I had run into to the Prince of Egypt, she would stay in one place. I glared at the monkey while Kiya just seemed to say, 'Who? Me?'

"Aku? Are you okay?" Atem asked looking at me worryingly. That snapped me out of it, I looked at him. He still had a faint blush on his cheeks, and I was sure that my entire face was still really red.

"I guess, my stupid monkey ran off, and I followed her. She turned a corner, and I ended up running into you." I explained while giving Kiya a hard glare.

Atem chuckled and I blinked. _'When did his chuckle become so... hmmm, what's the word...seducing? Nahh, it's more like...alluring'_ I thought with wide eyes. Okay this is strange. _'Oh well' _"And what are you chuckling about, mister?" I asked him, crossing my arms.

"Nothing, it's just that, this is SO you! You always end up running into someone, though it's usually me." Atem explained laughing softly.

If it were possible, I would've blushed even more.

"It wasn't my fault." I muttered weakly.

"Don't worry, I forgive you." Atem was always one to forgive me quickly, everyone else seemed to keep grudges when I did something bad. Even when I got tripped by a servant (who didn't like me because of my skin color) and I fell down the stairs and into Atem, who was at the bottom. He'd gotten a sprained wrist from the ordeal, and I had apologized profusely afterwards, but he had already forgiven me.

"You forgive me about everything, not that I'm complaining though." I muttered into my hands that I had brought up to cover my still blushing face.

A hand slowly brought my hands away from my face, clearing my vision again in time to see Atem smirk at me. I blushed more.

"You've been sitting there for five minutes. Aren't I going to get a hello hug from you?" Atem jokingly asked me.

I nodded and unfurled from my little ball that I'd squeezed myself into out of embarrassment, I smirked back at him. Something he wasn't expecting.

I pounced, wrapping my arms around his waist, knocking us over again. Though not as painfully. We both laughed as I let go of his waist but didn't get off of his torso, just choosing to keep him down on the ground while I lied on stomach, looking up at the ceiling.

"Can I get up now?" Atem asked sort of pleadingly.

"Only if you say the magic word." I teased.

"Please?" Atem said playing along.

"Good boy." I said as I sat up from his stomach. "Your stomach makes funny noises anyway." I commented, pretending I was a little kid again. Atem chuckled and sat up.

"Then why don't we stop it's grumbling at the dining room?" Atem asked.

"Can I bring Kiya?" I asked wondering about my trouble making monkey.

"Only if she doesn't make you run into another person." Atem teased.

I nodded and I put my arm down, which Kiya climbed up to go up onto my shoulder.

"How long have you had Kiya? I don't remember you having her last time you visited." Atem asked after about a minute of silent walking.

I blushed slightly. "I've actually only had her for a day... She was on the side of the road and I saw her from my carriage so I hopped out and helped her." I told Atem shyly.

"Well she's very well trained for a wild animal." Atem pointed out.

"Yeah, I guess she is. Kiya even answers my questions. When I was in the carriage, I asked her questions and she answered. Like I asked if she was a girl or boy, she pointed at me." I agreed.

"Can you asked her another question?" Atem asked.

"Sure." I turned to my monkey. "Hey Kiya, what does the color red look like?"

Kiya paused for a second, and then started jumping up and down while pointing at my hair.

"Good Girl! Here's a raspberry!" I pulled out another raspberry from my green bag and handed it to Kiya, who stuffed it in her mouth.

"That truly is remarkable." Atem stated.

* * *

We eventually made it to the dining hall after about million questions asked to Kiya, who answered them all. It had gotten a little awkward when I got a little carried away and asked her what love looked like.

She had pointed at both of us.

I had immediately blushed and turned my head away from Atem, who had done the same thing. _'Animals have NO filter!'_ I had thought.

Anyway, back to food. The dining hall was bustling with people, I even saw some of my father and I's servants among the crowd, all of them setting dishes and cutlery on a huge rectangular table.

"You do realize it's safer to have a circular table than a rectangular one?" I questioned thinking about my ancestor, Arthur.

"Yes, my dear. I believe that we are getting one in the next few days." A voice said from behind me, making me jump out of my skin.

"Father! Must you scare her right after she arrives?" Atem pleaded with the voice, whose owner just stepped forward into my vision. And what do you know, it was the Pharaoh.

"Oh she's fine." My father assured. "She jumps when I knock on her door when she's sucked into one of her books."

"I do not!" I cried indignantly, while all three men around me just chuckled.

"So I see you two found each other." The Pharaoh said.

"Well, you see..." I started.

"She ran into me." Atem explained. "Literally."

"It's not my fault! Kiya ran off!" I whined.

Another round of chuckling.

"Come on, I'm sure that you two are hungry from all of your traveling." The Pharaoh stated. "Why don't we sit down for some food?" I nodded only now realizing I was just as hungry as Atem.

We all sat down and had a fantastic dinner.

* * *

"Atem why don't you lead Akutaka to her room?" The Pharaoh suggested.

"Yes father." Atem said while getting out of his seat. "Is it still the same room from before?"

"Yes, it is." The Pharaoh confirmed. I stood up and walked over to Atem.

"Shall we go, Escort?" I asked teasingly.

"We shall." Atem said while putting out his arm for me, which I took.

* * *

"I can't believe she did that!" I exclaimed to Atem.

"Oh it gets worse." Atem assured. He was telling me about all of the princesses who had come looking to become his wife, so far they had all been pretty raunchy, or just not his type. "She not only 'loved me with her entire heart', but she also 'loved' all of the rich men in this entire palace!"

"So what did you do?!" I asked energetically, jumping up and down on my bed that I would sleep on when I came to Egypt.

"I couldn't do anything, but I told my father and he locked her out of the palace for entire day! And when she was finally allowed back in the palace, she wasn't allowed to leave her room at all!" Atem said, laughing hard.

"Have there been any princesses that caught your eye?" I asked innocently.

He pretended to think about the question for a second. I could tell that he was pretending, he's a terrible actor.

"Hmmm, maybe one. But she only comes for a few days every few years..." Atem said, looking up at the ceiling and tapping his chin thoughtfully. I laughed and playfully pushed him.

That apparently meant war to Atem, because he pushed back. I gasped and returned the push. This kept going for a while until Atem jabbed me in the sides and realized that I was ticklish.

Oh Ra.

"ATEM! HAhaHAHa! STOP!" I pleaded, still laughing.

"Only if you say the magic word." He teased using my words against me.

"PLEASE!" I begged. He laughed, but stopped. I caught my breath before I grabbed a pillow, and slammed it into his face. When I brought it away from his face, his expression...(gasp)... PRICELESS. It was too funny and so unlike him, I wouldn't be able to describe it now. I burst out laughing, my face getting redder by the minute.

If you're wondering, when you're REALLY pale, and you run really hard or laugh excessively, your face gets really red.

"Oh...My...RA! You're face was HILARIOUS!" I managed to out get between laughs.

"Well, I think that you're red face is hilarious. Does it always get so red?" Atem retorted.

"Only when...I laugh...really hard." I breathed out. "Sorry, I just had to retaliate. When someone tickles me, I'm not responsible for their injuries."

"Yes, my face is _very _injured." Atem said sarcastically.

"Excuse me, Prince?" A voice called from outside the door.

"Yes?" Atem answered.

"The Pharaoh would like to see you in the throne room." The voice informed.

"I'll be out in a second." Atem called back. "Well, this is where I say good bye for now." He smiled and got up from the bed.

"Yep. See ya later, 'Prince'." I said while jokingly saluting him.

He just chuckled and walked out the door.

* * *

**Well that's the end of the 2nd Chapter for Egypt's Adventure, But the first chapter of When They Realize. There will be more.**


	3. Confusion

**Sorry this took so long in updating. I've had Marching Band stuff taking up 110% of my life, and then taking all honors class, AND an extra class. I have had absolutely no time, but now Marching season is over and I can get back to writing! Thanks for all of the story alerting and favorites! And now to the story!**

**Edited: 11/26/14**

Linen sheets are amazing.

You lay there in bed for five seconds and then you fall completely asleep. They are _so_ comfy that you sink right in and aren't able to move afterwards. After Atem left to go see his father in the throne room I sat back on my bed and slept like a baby until my father came and knocked on the door.

"Aku, it's time for breakfast!" He said through the door. "I'm sending a few servants in to get you ready." I groaned. _Doesn't he think I can get ready on my own by now?_ I thought to myself, but I wasn't going to say that out loud. But no matter how awkward it is to have five people see you naked and bathe you, it is really quite relaxing. Also, you don't have to worry about untangling your own hair.

Uhg, my hair is so thick that is takes me five minutes to get one tangle out by myself. It's a relief not having to do that when I come to Egypt.

"Okay father!" I replied while dragging myself out of my bed. I reached over to the dresser and grabbed my robe. I walked to the door while shrugging it on and pulled open the door letting the servants in and then closing the door.

They led me into the bathroom, where I discarded of my robe and my undergarments, and allowed the servants to wash me clean.

When they were finished I was led back into my room, where I was given another robe to wear while they applied make up to my pale face. They only put on natural make up because if they put on anything heavier, I _will_ look like a circus clown/concubine. They gave me a light tan strapless dress to put on, that had a purple sash around the waist and a black lining around the bust of the dress. To complement the outfit, they gave me a few gold chokers, bracelets, and anklets. The color of the metal made me look slightly paler, but it went with my hair.

"Thank you girls." I said to them and hand them each a few coins. I put a finger to my lips as a sign to be quiet about the tip; we aren't allowed to give the servants any money, only their handlers can do that. I only broke that rule because whenever I come to Egypt, I always get these same exact people as my helpers. They are like dear friends to me, so I try to help them in any way I can.

They smiled and led me out the door.

I walked myself to the dining hall, as I knew the way from many years of visiting, while thinking of what we were going to do this day. I opened the door to the hall and saw father and the pharaoh already talking to the other at the head of the table in hushed voices. I walked in and took a seat a few chairs away from my father, near where I knew Atem usually sat, and started praying.

I jumped when a hand fell onto my shoulder.

"Calm down Aku, it's just me." A familiar voice spoke into my ear. I sighed in relief.

"Atem! Why must you always do that to me!" I whisper-shouted to him. He just chuckled and smirked while sitting down next to me. "I think you gave me a heart attack." He chuckled again. I brought my hand up and playfully, but softly, smacked his cheek. He rubbed his cheek and pretended that it had actually hurt.

"Ouch." Atem sarcastically said, I just stuck out my tongue.

"So what's for breakfast?" I asked him, not as quietly, but still fairly quiet.

"Let's see shall we?" Atem asked back and clapped his hands twice. Servants came out of the doors carrying good smelling platters of food. I knew one as soon as it came through the doors. My eyes widened.

"Raspberry Tart! Oh that is so mine!" I claimed and as soon as it was placed unto the table I gestured to a servant to give me a serving. When he was done, I smiled at him and focused back at my plate.

* * *

"Oh that was _so_ delicious!" I exclaimed after breakfast while walking with Atem to the gardens. Atem just laughed while trying to get the sticky filling off his nose that I had gotten on him while trying to give him a taste of the amazing pastry. I think that, even though I have really shaky hands, he enjoyed it.

"You really like raspberries, don't you?" Atem playfully asked, still rubbing his nose.

"Gee, what gave that away?!" I replied sarcastically. Atem and I's relationship is mostly just sarcasm. If either of us ask a stupid question, they will always get a sarcastic answer.

We reached the fountain in the middle of the gardens and sat down on the edge. The fountain was simple, a single spout spilling out water and clear water at the base, filled with pretty water lilies. It was our routine that after breakfast, Atem and i would hang out at the fountain and talk before he had to go to his Pharaoh Prep classes. Though, many times, I've helped hide him from his teacher so that we could talk some more together.

"So, what's been going on in Scotland lately?" Atem asked, trying to get a conversation going.

I groaned. "My father is such an idiot! He won't use our technology to make craftsmanship more efficient! He insists doing things the way they were done thousands years ago!" I complained. I leaned back so that I was laying on Atem's lap, and looked up at the sky.

Atem sighed and thought of what to say. "Maybe he believes that it is the only way to do things?" He suggested. I just mindlessly blew the hair off of my face that the wind had blown askew. Atem chuckled and placed the hair back on my face. I blew it off again. These actions repeated again and again for least five minutes, until I got so annoyed that I jumped up and tackled him the ground and pinned him there by his shoulders while straddling his torso, to maximize the strength of the hold.

"I swear if you do that one more time, I will punch you in the gut." I warned. He would always do this to me, annoy me until I snap. But Atem simply reached up and tucked my copper red hair behind my ear with a slight smile on his lips that just made me want to melt into his arms. I shook my head and narrowed my eyes, focusing again.

I was about to scold him again when a weight came onto my back and made me fall forward. My eyes closed, expecting to crash into ground, when something moist and warm was placed onto my lips, sending shocks down my spine. I opened my eyes and found Atem's face right in front of mine.

Later I would say that I immediately pulled away, but I was in such a state of shock and bliss that I closed my eyes and kissed back.

Can I just say that Atem is an amazing kisser?

He sat up from laying on the ground, holding my back so I couldn't pull away just yet, and slid his tongue against my lips, asking for entrance. I gasped and he slipped his tongue into my mouth, sending even more shocks down my spine. This was pure bliss. I started moving my hands into his hair, slightly pulling at it, making him slightly moan.

That should have been where I snapped out of it, but it just seemed to encourage me. I started to move my tongue against his, making him moan again, but this time, so did I. This started the battle of the tongues. Each one battling for dominance over the other, neither one willing to give up. He started moving his hands up down my sides, making me feel hot where ever he touched.

We kept kissing for what felt like an eternity until we both pulled away slowly at the same time. Both of us were out of breath, my face was probably really red, and gasping for air.

Oh gods.

I just kissed the prince of Egypt.

I just kissed Atem.

Oh Ra.

I suddenly stood got on to my feet, my eyes wide. I got my feet to work and I ran off, my face red with embarrassment.

"Aku!" I heard Atem yelling after me. I ignored him; I just kept running.

Running

Running

Running

I finally found my room, and burst in, roughly pushing the door into door. I fell onto the bed, my eyes turning red and becoming wet with tears accumulating on my lower lid.

I felt a tear land on my cheek, then another, and another, and another, until I was sobbing.

I had given up my first kiss to a guy that I didn't even know if I liked him that way. I know that I shouldn't have ran away like that, I obviously worried Atem. But I had. I left him, I didn't give him a chance to explain himself. I know that it only happened because of the weight that landed on my back (that was probably Kiya), I only ran away because he continued it. And because I kissed back. I probably hurt his feelings by not understanding mine.

The storm of tears increased in intensity at the thought of hurting Atem. At least not physically. That thought made me laugh softly through the tears, opening my mouth a millimeter. I could taste the salt water of my tears.

After about an hour of crying, I fell asleep on my comfy, but now too hot, bed.

* * *

When I woke up, my eyes were stuck together with dried tears. I pried them apart, and got out of bed. I walked over to my balcony, pulling on a robe, and went outside. It was late in the evening, probably around 19:00 (a form of time that I made up to say if it was in the morning or evening without explicitly saying it). I heard soft voices coming from the left of my balcony. I looked over and jumped.

It was Atem and out friend Mahad talking on the balcony right next to mine. I ducked quickly, thanking the gods that Atem's back was facing me. I slowed my heart rate so that I could hear them talking over its fast beat.

"..-ust don't know what to do."

"You also have to think of the responsibilities of the throne."

"Don't you think _I know_ that! Sorry, I didn't mean to snap. I just don't know how to say how I really...grr! She just ran away; she didn't give me a chance to say anything."

They're talking about me! I guess I really did hurt Atem's feelings.

"Do you still have something to tell her? Her running away didn't change anything?"

"She could do nothing that would be bad enough for my thoughts to change."

What?

"You seem pretty confident about that."

"I am. She is kind, caring, endearing, irritating, but also soothing and playful. She is the nicest, the most beautiful, and the most thoughtful person in the entire world. She wouldn't, couldn't, ever do anything considered 'evil'. She's intelligent and sassy, but also strong and musical. She'll sing a random tune and everyone in a 50 ft radius will stop and listen to her melodic voice. She can pick up any type of musical instrument and play it like she's been playing since she was a child. She's clumsy, but also graceful when she's dancing. She'll bump into walls that are right in front of her, but dance with the grace of a cobra. And most importantly, she understands me. She knows who 'Atem' is and talks to him and not 'Prince of Egypt' like all of the other princesses, and I grew up with her. She's my best friend and I ..(I shifted to get more comfortable)... her."

"Would you think of a union between yourselves?" Mahad asked calmly.

"Of course, she would be an excellent queen, and terrific in other roles. But this is if I haven't already ruined my chances with her because of my idiocy today. I let myself slip, and took advantage of her."

He thinks it's his fault? Why? I kissed back!

"Why do think it's your fault?" Mahad questioned.

"We wouldn't have kissed in first place if I hadn't brought her closer after Kiya pushed her forward. Kiya didn't hit her hard enough, I just couldn't control my feelings, and now I've made her cry. I think I took her first kiss, she told me that she was going to save it for when she truly knew if she loved the guy, and I just ruined that."

"How do you know that that didn't happen today? How do you know that she doesn't love you?"

"She ran away. That's how I know. If she loved me, then she wouldn't have ran..."

I crawled back inside, trying not to reveal my position to the two guys who were still talking intensively. I couldn't take anymore. I was confused. Atem is my best friend, not my lover. Yeah, he's attractive and meets all of my expectations in a guy, but he's my friend, a very close friend, but still a friend. I think. GAH!...I'm so confused.

I don't know what to think. My thoughts are just in a jumbled mess, impossible for me to untangle. I crawled back onto my bed and just laid there in a still state, slowly deciphering the things in my head.

I slowly fell asleep, confused, but in the middle of the night, I woke up to the sound of the door quietly opening and then closing. I pretended to still be asleep by keeping my breaths longs and even. I listened to the light footsteps get louder as the maker walked towards my bed. The bed dipped as the person sat on the bed, on the side that I facing. A hand was placed onto my face, caressing my cheek.

"I sorry Aku, I didn't mean to do this to you. I don't deserve you, no one does. But, I still have feelings for you that I can't control. What I'm trying to say is that, Aku, I love you." I felt a tear land on my cheek as I felt the hand on my cheek start to shake. "I d-don't-t know h-how to fix-x my relations-ship with y-you." He stammered. "I never wanted to hurt you. Why would I? You're the best thing that ever happened to me."

I kept still, faking sleep.

He sighed and stood up from the bed. I waited for the door to open and close and then sat up.

"He loves me?" I asked out loud, while subconsciously touching my lips. The lips that Atem had kissed today.

"Aw, how cute." A voice came out from the darkness of my room.

"Who's there?" I asked looking around the room, scanning for the source of the voice.

"Who am I? I'm your captor, and that's all you need to know." The voice said.

"Why are capturing me? What value do I have that could serve you?" I asked, stalling.

"Because your lovely prince would do anything to get you back, even release someone from his dungeons." He was going to exploit the Prince by using me as bait. "Now no more questions, it's time for a little nap."

A shiny metal object came rushing down towards my head, hitting me hard enough for everything to go black

**DUN DUN DUN! I changed this because it was just too cliche and it was bothering me. So I finally added some conflict into this story. I have to admit, it was kind of boring without this conflict, it was just all fluff, and pretty bad fluff too. Well, see ya next time!**

**PharaohsLuver**


	4. Captured

**Hey y'all! Sorry for the wait, having hard classes makes it hard for me to write on a regular basis. Don't get me wrong, I love my classes, and if they were any easier, they would be Too easy. Well, thanks for all of the follows and favorites! On the to Story!**

Ouch.

Ouch.

Ouchity Ouch Ouch!

My head hurts like CRAP!

Wait, why does it hurt again?

I slightly opened my eyes, and quickly closed them again while beating back a small scream when I saw that I was at least three feet off the ground. I suspended up by my waist and hands with chains, that were at least half an inch thick.

I concentrated and discovered that the pain in my head was coming from the back of my head, where the man had hit me. I couldn't move my hands to find out how bad the bruise was, due to the chains keeping me up. Right about now I was really glad that I had sneaked on some small shorts underneath my dress earlier so that my captor couldn't see anything important.

I kept my eyes closed and regulated my breathing so that I looked like I was still out cold, though there was no one was around me. My surroundings were dank and full of noises that sounded like mice scampering around. I felt a steady light breeze blowing past my feet, so there was an open window nearby, and since the breeze was cool, it was night time right now.

SQUEAK!

I felt a ray of light land on me as a door opened in front of me. The door must not have been oiled in a while because the doors even in my country didn't squeak. I kept on pretending to not be awake, which I was very good at, given that even my father wouldn't know if I was awake or not.

"My dear princess, you shall be the one to finally return to me my favorite co-conspirator. The prince shall have no choice if he ever wants to see his precious princess ever again. But first I need to collect some evidence that I truly have you."

At that point, the man came closer and I heard the sound of metal brushing across metal, as if a blade was being pulled out of a scabbard. I felt my head be tugged backwards roughly and I fought against myself not to yelp. The man had pulled my hair and cut off a chunk of it. Ah, I understand now, I'm the only person in the whole of Egypt who has red hair, so then Atem would have no problem determining that it was me that was taken.

"This should do nicely; I shall be reunited with him very soon. Thank you very much princess for your contribution." The man just laughed manically and left while slamming the door behind him.

I slowly picked up my head from its uncomfortable position and looked about the room. It was about 50 feet long and 30 feet across and I was in the direct middle. Behind me there was this sarcophagus looking thing with holes in it that looked like things fit inside of it. Along the walls of the room were columns that reached from floor to ceiling.

This place seemed like it hadn't been seen for a decade. It was full of cobwebs and had mice running all over the place. The door that the man had come through had a golden decoration on it, I couldn't tell what it was from here, but it definitely looked familiar.

Suddenly, the door opened again and the man walked in smiling, seeing that I was awake. He was tall, probably around six feet tall, and really toned. He wore a red robe that hung open, revealing his chest and torso. He also wore tan bottoms and sandals common among the people in the town near the palace. Though the most strange features were his dark purple eyes and his white hair that fell ruggedly to his shoulder blades. To make him even more creepy was the fact that he had a scar below his left eye that looked like a T crossed twice.

"Ah, so the princess awakens." He said while mockingly bowing.

"What do you want with me?" I asked while trying to remain in control of my emotions.

"You're going to be my ransom, so that I can get my mate out your 'honey's' dungeons." The man simply explained.

"'Honey'? Who do you mean by 'honey'?" I asked really confused. He must've hit me really hard; I'm usually smarter than this.

"The Prince, duh! He's going to release my friend from his dungeon, or he'll never see you again. Got it?"

I nodded, while thinking about if Atem would really do that. If someone was in prison, then he probably deserved to be there.

"Well you can just give up on that, Atem would never put me before the safety of Egypt." I said smugly, but while hiding my sadness because this was also the truth.

SMACK!

My neck cracked as the man smacked me across the face in anger. I could feel my cheek get hot, and small tears come to my eyes, but I blinked them away. I couldn't show any weakness in front of him, or he'd take advantage of it.

I licked my lip slightly and found that I had gotten a split lip, and I got angry. "Is that all you've got?! No matter how many times you hit me, it won't ever change the truth. Pharaohs and Princes are taught to not put anything before the safety of their kingdom. Even loved ones, or friends. Wake up and smell the wine! If he has put someone in jail that means...!" I was cut off by a really painful punch to my stomach that knocked all the air out of me and left me wheezing for air.

"SHUT UP!" The man hollered at me. "YOU WILL NOT SPEAK UNTIL I ALLOW YOU TO! And even then, you shall only reply in yes, and yes sir! I don't care about your belief about the prince's teachings. You shall only care about if you're going to survive my wrath for another day. Got it?!"

"Y-yes s-sir." I whispered softly.

"Good." He said and then angrily stormed out of the room.

* * *

That night I had cried myself to sleep out of pain and hopelessness, and woke up with my face tight from dried tears. All that I had said, I believed was true, I just hoped I was wrong. I had no chance of escape if he kept me up here until his 'friend' was released. Even after then, he'd probably just kill me anyway. I started to cry again, because I'd probably die of dehydration if my captor never got the clue that I needed water just as much as he did. I cried out of the bad odds of me ever getting down from these chains, the metal had already chaffed my skin enough to make me bleed. I cried and cried and cried until I couldn't cry anymore.

The next day was the same, except I couldn't cry; I didn't have enough water. I just stayed there, hanging from my chains and staring at the door so that bastard could finally give me some reprieve. I couldn't stop thinking about Atem, was he worried about me? _Nah, he's got the safety of Egypt to worry about, not me._ I thought in my head as a response to my own question.

I was so firm on that belief that I would never be rescued that I never even entertained the thought that Atem would come to save me.

At some point on the third day, the man finally allowed me to have about a cup of water. It felt so good, that I didn't even care that he poured about three cups down his own throat right in front of me.

The hunger wasn't as overpowering, but it was still pretty strong. At some point, I just stopped paying attention to the grumbling of my stomach. People could survive months without food, and it had only been three and half days.

On the fourth day, I heard a sound that I hadn't heard since I had first been taken here. A falcon, a bird usually used in messages between to people who were far away. I had first heard it when the man cut off a chunk of my hair for Atem. Does that mean that he had sent a reply?

He was saying that he couldn't risk Egypt for me. Even though I knew this would happen I still sunk down in defeat, my head fell forward and a few tears came to my eyes. but that's all that I allowed to escape me as I tried to conserve my water.

But then I heard a sound that I never heard before.

Horses?

What could horses be doing here?

I could also hear an indistinct conversation somewhere outside.

My captor came running down the stairs with a gleam in his eye and a piece of cloth and bunch of rope in his hand. He came up to me and tied the cloth around my mouth as a gag. He went over to the wall behind me and started lowering me down to the ground with a crank that was behind the 'sarcophagus' thing. When my feet touched the ground, I couldn't support myself and so I fell to my knees. He walked over and unshackled my wrists and tied them together behind me with the rope. He then took off the metal that was around my waist and picked me off the floor and half dragged me out of the room as I struggled to make my legs move so that I wouldn't have to be put in so much pain.

When we finally got outside, the sun was blinding. I had to lower my head slightly to protect my eyes from feeling as if they were on fire. My captor threw me unto the ground, but not far enough for me to be out of arms reach. I coughed trying to remove the sand from my mouth, and moved myself onto my knees. The man walked up behind me, grabbed my hair and put a blade to my neck. I froze, trying to not my the blade any closer than it already was. My eyes finally adjusted, and then I could see that a three people were standing in front of me. All of them, except one, were gold on their persons.

"Bakura! I have brought your demand, and now I demand that you return what you have taken from me!"

NonononononononoNO! What is Atem doing here! He's not supposed to give into the demands of a criminal!

"Ah, Prince. What an honor it is to be in your presence in my quaint little village." The man, that I now know as Bakura, goaded. I looked around and saw that the buildings around us were empty. _Quaint? More like ghost town!_ I thought.

"Don't mess with me, Bakura! I have very little patience for your antics." Atem said with an annoyed tone of voice.

"Aw, can't the Prince take a joke?" Bakura said almost laughing.

"Not when you're holding a dagger to the throat of someone that I happen to care about very deeply." Atem said seriously.

Ummmm, excuse me, but WHAT?!

"Tell you what: give me back Marik and I'll give you back your _dearest princess." _Bakura offered while pinching one of my cheeks. I wanted to fight back, but I hadn't eaten in four days and the sun was making me overheat, so instead I just gave my death glare to him.

"You believe me to just give back your cohort and expect you to give me back Aku?" Atem asked disbelievingly.

"Yes, then I believe your right. Neither of us can trust the other to kill someone or not. So how about a small game?" Bakura offered.

"What game do you propose." Atem questioned as he crossed his arms.

"Look around you, what is the one thing that is special to this village alone?" Bakura started. "Scorpions. A special kind of scorpion, one that will only attack if you move. We will both put a scorpion on our hand and who ever moves will be stung by the scorpion and will be paralyzed, allowing the other to collect their person and kill the other if they wish. The person that was stung will not be able to move for thirty minutes after the stinging. So what do you think?" Bakura explained.

Atem looked at me, and I conveyed a look that said 'I believe in you'. He nodded and looked back at Bakura. "I understand, and will participate in this game."

"How wonderful! Let's begin then!" Bakura said while picking up his scorpion in such a way that it couldn't sting him yet, and Atem followed suit.

"Begin!" Both of them said, and they both placed their scorpion on their hand, while retaining their arm at a 90 degree angle.

They didn't move, or speak, or do anything for the first two minutes. I didn't either, even though when Bakura picked up his scorpion, he let go of me and removed the dagger from my throat. When the third minute started both of their scorpions started walking slowly up their arms.

At this point, they were both straining to keep their arms up, adding the thing walking up their arms, put a fear factor next to the strength. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed another scorpion near Bakura's right foot. I nearly laughed, because I had realized that every inch that the scorpion on his arm moved, Bakura shuffled his feet.

After what seemed to be a life time, the scorpion on his arm got another inch and Bakura shuffled his feet. The other scorpion saw movement and stung Bakura's foot, paralyzing him.

I stayed where I was, not being able to move out of weakness, and watched as Mahad carefully took the scorpion off of Atem's arm and put it by the other two by Bakura. Mahad cautiously walked over to me and took off my gag and untied my hands as gently as he could. When I could finally move my arms, I massaged my wrists while I mouthed a 'thank you' to Mahad. He nodded but looked confused. I stopped rubbed my wrists and slowly tried to stand up, using my arms for balance. I stood for a grand total of three seconds before my knees collapsed beneath me. Atem rushed forwards and caught me.

"Oh Aku, what did he do to you?" Atem asked more to himself, than to me.

"W-wa-ter." I managed to get out from my dry mouth. His eyes widened and he quickly told Mahad to get out a container of water. Soon, I was feeling a soft trickle of water land on my lips, and I could feel Atem's caution when pouring it.

He gave me another minute of water before he stopped pouring it, remembering that you drink too much you can throw it back up. He picked me up and placed me on his horse, leaving me there for a moment while he said something to Marik and Mahad. Mahad cut the ropes on Marik's hands and Marik ran towards the building that I was held captive in.

Atem was honoring his agreement by still letting Marik go. That's why he let him go. Atem pulled himself on the horse behind me and moved me so that I was leaning against his chest. And then we set off back to the palace.

**Well that was fun! I hope you enjoyed it! I know that I shouldn't have made Aku think that Atem would never come for her, but I wanted to find a way to piss off Bakura! Because that's A LOT OF FUN! I also should've put Atem's POV, but I couldn't think of how to write through him, I DON'T UNDERSTAND GUYS ENOUGH! Anyways, HAPPY HOLIDAYS! I got some really cool Doctor Who stuff, and a Firefly calendar. I love my family! **

**Well, until next time,**

**PharaohsLuver**


	5. Avoiding

Chapter 5: Avoiding

Pain.

Pain behind my eyes.

That was all that I felt. Partially because my dehydration from my plight with Bakura, but mostly because I wanted to cry all of the time. Why is it that whenever a person is confused or in pain they cry? Many have said that crying is a sign of weakness because it shows that you are ruled by your emotions. Why is the human race so dependent on their emotions? Emotions cause wars, break friends apart, and can cause a person to be driven to the edge and even kill themselves.

This was all going through my mind as I lay there on my bed 'recovering'. I may have been recovering from dehydration, but I didn't want to eat and wouldn't speak to anyone. Isis would speak to me while putting new bandages on my wrists, telling me of her budding relationship with Mahad. She would tell me about how he would leave flowers in her room and take walks with her in the gardens almost every day after lunch.

She would tell me all of the good points of having emotions: support, friendship, love. I was very happy for her and Mahad; I had seen the ways they looked at each other when the other wasn't looking. They always had a face of longing and hope, a face of someone who knew who they did and did not love. Unlike me, who was confused about everything doing with the word 'love'.

A word that so short but could cause wars and was the most powerful of emotions. Love was always hand in hand with 'jealousy', 'hate', 'lust' and 'hope'. Love can enable people to look on the brighter side of things, but also drag them down to darkest corner of their minds in an attempt to gain attention. Who does that to themselves?

Oh wait…

I do.

I used to always fall for the cutest guy around me and daydream of us together. I would pine for his affections, but I would always get my heart broken when he found a girl that was prettier and more than I was. Whenever that seems to happen I always went to Atem for help. He would let me cry on his shoulder until I felt better, and then I would rebound with another cute guy and the cycle would repeat. This kept going on until I turned 15 and I learned that guys weren't worth me thinking about them all the time and wasting time that I could have been using to learn about being a royal and how to be a queen when the time came.

I became smarter and studied my music even more so than before. Every day I would practice for hours upon hours on any instrument I could get my hands on. I even made a few of my own when I was bored playing the lyre and harpsichord. I taught myself arithmetic and the sciences of the age, like astronomy and theology. I also studied politics, so that I could understand what was going on around me when I sat in on meetings with my father and so that I could be an excellent queen. Medicine and health care were also things that I educated myself on; they were quite useful when I started to rescue animals from the brink of death.

Ouch!

Thinking hurt, and so there was the pain behind my eyes. Tears forced their way to the surface. Every so often, a comforting hand would caress my bruised cheek and a soft voice would tell me that I was going to be okay and was constantly saying 'I'm so sorry' and 'This shouldn't have even happened to you. How could I let this happen to you?'. Whoever that person was they seemed to blame themselves for what happened to me. The person would stay next to me for a long time and just hold my hand, and every once in a while I could feel a water droplet fall on to my hand.

I think that I had been in the palace for a week before finally waking back up. The owner of the comforting hand and soft voice hadn't been in the room at that time, but Isis had. She had been changing the bandages on my wrists when I suddenly flinched and woke up out of pain.

"Oh thank the gods!" She exclaimed. "We feared that you would never wake back up. The prince was worried sick; he seemed to never leave your side."

"W-wa-t-ter." I softly spoke. Isis acted quickly and brought some water to my mouth and allowed me to drink some water. It felt like I was getting a bit stronger with every sip of water that I took.

"Okay, now you just get some rest." Isis ordered with a stern but joyful expression.

"Isis, could I actually talk to the prince first? I have to tell him something important." I pleaded with Isis.

"Fine, but then you have to go straight to bed." She relented.

"I'm already _in_ bed and it's not like I can go far in this state." I sarcastically answered. Isis softly laughed and got up from her chair that she was sitting in to go get the prince.

Once she left, I took a long deep breath, steadying myself for what I was about to do. I needed more time to think and if Atem was constantly around me, I was worried if I would hurt his feelings even more.

The door opened slowly, and Atem entered alone into the room. He closed the door behind him softly and he walked up to me with a soft smile.

"Hey there, how are you feeling?" Atem asked.

"Like I got pushed off a cliff." I answered with a grimace. He chuckled quietly and I would've punched him in the arm if I had the energy to do so. "I must look awful" I said realizing that I had slept for a week and before that been held captive for four days.

"Well then you should get some rest." Atem recommended. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Atem, do you mind if I have some time to think about things. I don't want to end anything, but I just need to think by myself."

"Okay…how long do you need?" I think I could hear the hesitation in his voice, but he tried to keep it hidden.

"I don't know. I'll tell you when I'm ready to talk again. Okay?"

"Okay…" Atem softly answered. He then slowly turned around and left the room.

*LINE BREAK*

It had been a month. A month since I had spoken to Atem. I had stayed in Egypt throughout that time, but I always avoided Atem. Our parents were confused; we wouldn't tell anyone that we weren't talking. My father was constantly asking me why I wasn't hanging out with the prince as I used to, but I would just change the subject. Every day in that month I sat outside in the garden under the cover of a tree and think. I would think of my feelings and of what they meant. Did I love Atem? Did I think of him like a friend or something more? I definitely had a physical attraction to him; that was proven during that kiss in the garden. But was that love or lust? Three letters separated the two words but why were they so hard to discern from the other?

Every time we ended up being in the same room as each other, I excused myself with a ready-made excuse. I just couldn't face him yet; I wasn't ready.

On the first day of the next month, I hung out Mana all day. She dramatically helped my mood. Mana has this way of making you laugh even if you feel like the world is ending. She'll tell jokes, practice her magic (which always blows up in her face), and help you get out of the palace and into the marketplace.

"So which part of town do you want to go to today?" Mana asked joyfully while bouncing up and down.

"Shh! We have to get out of the palace first!" We were only fifty feet away from the secret door that Mana found; it went right through the palace wall and came out near the south-eastern edge of the market. Mana and I were dressed in cloaks to hide our identities, as we didn't want the guards to know that we were in the marketplace and not the palace. When we finally got out to the markets, I decided that we would go to the northern area of the bazaar, which usually sold fabrics, jewelry and thread/yarn.

I had brought a few gold coins with me, hidden in my green pouch with a few raspberries, so that I could purchase some more yarn and thread. I had taken up a project of crocheting a blanket for my room. I had already started it with a background of emerald green and I was going to embroider some designs on it. I needed a thread with a golden hue and another one with a lighter shade of green.

I walked up to the stall that was selling the thread and yarn and saw that is was run by a frail old woman. She was struggling to move her merchandise to her stall from her house behind it.

"Ma'am, do you need any help?" I asked hoping to lighten her load.

"That would be very nice, thank you." She answered. I moved forwards and took two boxes out of her arms and carried them to where she told me to put them.

"Here, why don't I move the rest of the stuff, and you just sit down and tell me where to put it?" I suggested when I saw how tired she was. She nodded tiredly and for the next ten minutes I moved at least twenty more boxes out and placed the yarn and thread out on the table for view of her costumers.

"Thank you so much dear! I fear that if I had done all of that, I would have died of exhaustion." The woman admitted. "My name is Salma, and what is your name miss?"

"I'm Layla." I lied, trying to not giving away that I was royalty. Though I wasn't completely lying, I just told her my mother's name, which was my middle name.

"It's very lovely to meet you Layla. It's not everyday someone offers to help you get your stall ready for the day." Salma said, not seeing my lie. "Would you like to have some thread or yarn as a payment for helping me?"

"That would be very nice of you, but are you sure?" I questioned.

"Very sure. You deserve it."

I nodded and started to look at all of the different shades of colors. I saw one shade of red of yarn that was the exact shade of Atem's crimson colored eyes. I looked at it for a few seconds and then shook my head and kept on looking. I found my thread that I needed for my blanket, and brought it up to Salma.

"Is that all you want? You should also get some yarn; I saw you look at a particular one at some point. Why don't you take that one?" She suggested, but I got the feeling that she wouldn't allow me to get a different one.

I nodded and grabbed the crimson yarn. "Thank you, Salma. I'll try to come back again soon." I promised.

"You'd better." She said with a joking expression. I laughed and walked away while waving behind me at her. After a few minutes, I found Mana in a full blown haggle with a merchant about a golden anklet. She said that it was overpriced and he said that it was worth so much more.

"Five gold pieces!"

"Three gold pieces!"

"Four gold pieces and five silver pieces!"

"Three gold pieces and seven silver pieces!"

"How about she just gives you four gold pieces, and we stop disturbing the peace of the morning?" I suggested while rubbing my temples while trying to get rid of my headache. They both nodded and Mana got the anklet and the merchant got the gold.

"Let's head back. We've both got what we wanted." I told Mana.

"Sure, my voice hurts after that anyways." She agreed hoarsely while rubbing her throat.

We got back to the palace, disposed of our cloaks and went our separate ways, though only after me successfully avoiding Atem when seeing him walking down the corridor that I was about to turn down. I just kept walking and just turned around when I couldn't see him anymore.

"You know that at one point you'll have to talk to him? You can't just leave it like that." Mana started and I sighed.

"I know. I just don't know how I feel about him yet." I said while looking down at my feet, ashamed at my confusion. "I mean I know that he is the nicest man I've ever met, but he's also the strongest of heart. He's always so forgiving and is just so endearingly stupid sometimes. He understood that I needed time; he's never pressured me into doing anything that I never wanted to do. He has been through every hard part in my entire life, and he's supported me in whatever I do with my time. But I just don't know if I see him as only a friend or as something more." I could feel the pain behind my eyes start to build up as I began to cry. "Mana, why am I so confused?"

"You just don't want to hurt Atem if you jump to the conclusion that you think you love him. You're afraid that if that happens then you'll hurt his feelings even more than just saying that you just want to friends." Mana explained simply.

"So what do I do?" I asked. It was just so chaotic inside my mind. One side was saying that I loved him, the other saying that he was just a friend.

"You stop listening to your brain and start listening to your heart. It won't tell you wrong; trust me on this." Mana was weirdly sounding really smart. I guess she really does drop the funny when she knows her friends need help. "Okay, now let's get you to your room so that you can start listening."

*LINE BREAK*

At first I didn't really listen, but once I was tired of hearing the argument in my mind, I started thinking. What if Mana actually mean for me to listen to my physical heart but to something else? As children we had thought of our little group of friends as parts of one giant entity. Mahad was the brain, Mana was the soul, I was the mouth (because I usually was the one coming up with the lies to get us out of trouble), and Atem was the heart. Did Mana mean for me to listen to Atem?

"Oh well, I'm just going to do it." I told myself and I tossed off the covers and threw on a robe to cover my night gown. It was about 23:00 and the palace was pretty much asleep except for the guards. I sneaked over to Atem's room, avoiding all of the guards that went passed, and crept inside.

Inside, Atem was fast asleep on his bed, his hair being squished down due to the soft pillows behind his head and his chest rising and falling at a steady pace.

Oh gods…

His chest…

Atem wasn't wearing a top, so his entire top half of his body was completely bare. Even from the door, I could see the definition of his toned stomach. Slowly, I walked towards him, moving my feet in such a way that they didn't even make a sound, not that it would have made a difference. Atem was such a heavy sleeper that it would take me knocking over some furniture for him to wake him up.

I gently sat on the mattress, trying not to move it too much, and lightly brushed off a stray bang away from his forehead. He looked so peaceful, so calm, and so different than how he looked during the day. He always seemed so serious when I saw him, always worrying about this or that, but now he looked almost child-like expression. I brought my hand up to his face and just brushed my thumb against his cheekbone. _I could get used to seeing this every morning._ I thought to myself. _Wait….WHAT?! What did I just think?! _But I wasn't lying to myself. It was so mind blowing to see a face that is never relaxed during the day and have it be almost line-less at night. I continued to rub my thumb against his cheek. It was relaxing to me, and it was obviously relaxing to Atem because he started to tilt his head into my hand.

I stopped and withdrew my hand from his face. I started to go for the door, when I realized that a guard now stood outside. I was stuck. There was no way that I could get out without the guard seeing me and the guards didn't change shifts again until well into the morning. I was doomed; Atem was _going_ to see me. I resigned to my fate and sat down on a chair near his bed. After listening to Atem's slow and steady breaths, I fell asleep.


	6. Vision of Truth

**Hey, PharaohsLuver here! Sorry for the long wait, I got sucked in to reading Rise of the Guardians fics. They're so good! I also couldnt' really figure out what to do next... I don't really have the plot set in stone... But I am trying harder! Thank you to everyone who commented, favorited, and followed! I love you all, and every single one of you reminded me that I had to update this thing! ON TO THE STORY!**

I probably only an hour of sleep before a soft tapping on the balcony window woke me up. I slowly uncoiled myself from the chair I had fallen asleep on and stood up. I walked over to the balcony and opened the window/door, and in zoomed a little brown animal.

...Wait a minute...

"Kiya!" I whispered yelled in excitement. She could help me get out without Atem noticing!

Kiya heard her name and jumped up onto my shoulder and started to nuzzle my cheek. "Hey little girl, how are you?" I asked while scratching her neck softly. My monkey brought a hand up and traced a tear line on my face while having a questioning look on her face. "I've been having a rough week. No one's hurt me physically though." I added when Kiya started to look up and down my body for any injuries. "I think that I'm the one causing all of the damage." I said while looking down.

Kiya lifted her hands and brought up my chin so I was looking into her eyes; she had a caring look in her eyes that no ordinary monkey could have. It almost looked like a human's emotion.

Suddenly everything went dark and I collapsed on to the floor.

_...I opened my eyes from where I had fallen on the floor and everything was brighter than it was a minute ago. The sun was shining into Atem's room through the open balcony door. I slowly sat up looking around, hopelessly trying to find a reason for time moving so quickly. I looked around quickly and my hair fell into my face. I brought my hand up to push my hair out of my face, but when I saw my hand I realized something._

_I was transparent._

_My eyes widened and I quickly stood up, while keeping my eyes on my hands and arms. Why was I transparent? Was I dead? No, if I was dead I would be in the great beyond, being judged by Anubis and Ammit, not here in Atem's room._

_Okay, so not dead, but why am I here?_

'You are here because you need to see what you have done to your heart.'

_I quickly looked around searching for the owner of the voice, but didn't find anyone._

_"Who are you?!" I yelled out to the room._

_'_I am the one who will help you realize your feelings for Atem. You shall see what Atem looked like earlier today, and you shall know that this was all your doing.'

_Okay then, no name, but I'll take all the help I can get. I walked over to a chair and checked to see if I could touch anything._

_I couldn't. 'well damn, there goes sitting.'_

_But as soon as I said that someone walked into the room; it was Atem. But he wasn't as I normally saw him._

_He had red rimming his eyes, as if he were about to cry, and he was holding himself as if he were about to fall apart. He flopped himself onto his bed and started to softly cry into his pillow._

_My own eyes started to well up at the knowledge that I had done this to him. That I had broken his heart. I walked over to him, my eyes dropping tears like raindrops, and sat on the bed next to him. I brushed off the excitement of being able to touch the bed, and put my hand on his back. Yet again I brushed off the excitement of being able to touch something, and I started to slowly rub his back in a comforting manner._

_"I'm so sorry Atem. I didn't know that I did this to you." I managed to say through my tears. "I always seem to be the person who hurts you, and yet you still continue to be my best friend. Every other guy I've ever met has always left me after I did something stupid or I embarrassed them. But with you, you always come back laughing and forgiving me." I continued to say while rubbing his back, not noticing that Atem had stopped crying and had fallen asleep. "You are the most amazing man that I've ever known; you're smart, courageous, funny, caring, forgiving, and understanding. You are going to be an amazing Pharaoh one day, and I hope that I will get to be there when you are so that I can say 'I told you so'. I want to see you happy again, but I'm afraid that the only way for that to happen is for me to figure out my feelings. But I think that I might have already, and I've just been hiding myself away from it. I'm scared Atem, I've never second guessed my feelings before and never hurt anyone in the process. But now, now that I've seen what I've done to you, I know what my feelings are." I paused for a second, gathering myself._

_"I think I love you Atem, but I'm just too afraid to tell you. I'm afraid that I'll just hurt you again, if I second guess myself again. I don't want to hurt you anymore than I have already. With the trauma caused by Bakura, I now fear that if I'm used against you, you'll give your life for mine. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if that happened. Is this what love is? Not wanting to hurt someone because you care so much that their pain is your pain? When you hurt so much when you're not with them? If it is, then I think-no I know- that I love you. You are amazing and I never want to lose you."_

_As soon as I said those words, the world turned black and I fell unconscious again._

I woke up to someone shaking me.

I slowly opened my eyes and groaned at the bright light of the sun shining into my eyes and I quickly shut them. Suddenly, I was engulfed into a pair of strong arms holding me close.

"Oh Aku, thank Ra you're alright. I was worried that you would never wake up!" That voice sounded familiar...it was Atem. He pulled away so that he could see my face more clearly and I opened my eyes. He sighed in relief and smiled lightly.

"Atem..." I softly said and tears started to well in my eyes. I threw my arms around his neck and pulled him close to me. He tensed for a second, out of shock, and then relaxed and returned the embrace. "I'm so so so so sorry! I never meant to hurt you!" I sobbed. "I'm sorry that I made you hurt because of my confusion. I just didn't know what my feelings were yet. But now I know." I pulled back and looked into his eyes, with tears still streaming down my face. "Atem, I've hurt you more than I can count, but you always come right back. You are my best friend, but now I think that I don't just want to be friends anymore." I started to blush now as I got closer to telling my feelings. Atem just sat there looking at me with compassion in his eyes, telling me to go on. "Atem, I love you and I don't want to lose you."

Atem didn't say anything; he just sat there with a big grin on his face.

"Well, say somethin-!" I started to say before I was stopped by Atem pulling me into a kiss. That definitely shut me up. I let myself sink into the kiss, losing all doubts and just focused on Atem. He slid his tongue across my bottom lip, asking for entrance. This time, I didn't gasp, but I willingly let him in. This brought the kiss to the next level. Atem brought his hand up to behind my head and put his hand in my hair, while keeping his other hand around my waist. Our tongues battled, but in the end Atem won dominance. I brought my hands up to his hair and started to play with it, feeling his soft yet gravity-defying hair.

Slowly we pulled apart and smiled at each other. I wanted to show him that I wasn't going to run away again, so I kissed his cheek and smiled at him lovingly. He returned the smile.

"I love you so much Aku." Atem professed. "I love you more than life itself, I don't know what I would do if I ever lost you."

"I love you too Atem. You are the nicest man I have ever met. You make me laugh when I'm about to cry, and you will be an amazing pharaoh when the time comes and I want to be there with you when it does, whether I be just a princess who is visiting, or something more; I always want to be there for you."

We pulled each other close again, about to kiss, when Kiya 'chirped' **(I don't know what kind of sound monkeys make, so hang with me)** and scared both of us. I was so spooked that I jumped six inches and fell out of Atem's lap.

"I don't think that Kiya likes being ignored." Atem pointed out.

"Probably not." I agreed. "Come here girl." I cooed, offering my arm. She walked forward and climbed up my arm and up onto my shoulder where she nuzzled my cheek.

Suddenly, I remembered what happened before I got sent into earlier today, AKA when I was transparent, Kiya had this look on her face that could only be described as a human's emotion. "Kiya, did you send me that vision?" I asked the monkey on my shoulder. Kiya nodded and had a look of pride on her face. I lightly chuckled and scratched her chin, shaking my head. "I should have known."

"What are you talking about Aku?" Atem asked curiously.

"When I was unconscious, I was given a glimpse into what happened earlier today. I saw what pain I put you through and I discovered what my feelings were. But before that happened a voice came to me and told me where I was and why I was there." I explained.

"Are you saying that the voice was Kiya?" Atem asked disbelievingly.

I lightly chuckled. "Have you ever heard of the legend of a monkey helping someone find their 'true love'?" I asked and Atem nodded. "Well the legend also says that the monkey is the goddess Hathor in the form of her favorite animal. **(yes I know it's supposed to be a hippo, but how could I make a hippo help Aku find love in a castle, where it probably wouldn't fit inside the door? So I improvised, besides you can do a lot more with a monkey.) **I believe that the voice was Hathor, but also that she came to me through Kiya." I clarified.

Atem still looked confused, but shrugged his shoulders and went with it. "I believe you; it's just hard to wrap your head around." I nodded in understanding.

I stood up and walked over to the balcony, wanting to find out the time. I jumped when I saw it was around eight o' clock. "Oh crap! My father will going to my room at any moment to go wake me up!" I looked over at Atem with a look of apology on my face.

"Go, I do not want to get you in trouble with your father." Atem told me. I jumped over to him, kissed him on the cheek and them ran out of the room, trying to beat my father there.

I ran into my room threw on a robe, and dashed under the covers, pretending to be asleep. My father knocked on the door and walked in the moment I closed my eyes. He walked in and sat on the edge of the bed. He lightly shook me while whispering to me for me to wake up. I slowly opened my eyes, pretending to be getting up from sleep.

"Good morning, my daughter." He greeted.

"Good morning." I greeted in return. He stood up from the bed and clapped his hands twice, calling in the servants that would wash me to get ready for the day.

"I will see you at breakfast." And with that he walked out of the room. I through off the covers and walked into the bathroom with the five servants following behind me.

When I took off my robe, some of the servants' eyes widened when they saw my normal clothes underneath, but they said nothing. I shed my dress as they started to fill the tub.

*After bath*

I was given another dress to wear for today and then lead to the chair that sat in front of my mirror. My dress was a light tan color with a green sash around the waist, and it was already one of my favorites; the green went with my hair and the tan didn't make me look extraordinarily pale. I played with the fabric while they applied my usual make up, thinking about Atem and how our relationship might be different now that we knew how the other felt. Some part of me wanted everything to be the same, but another part wanted it to be different. But when they finished with my make up, I decided that I didn't care if it was different or not, as long as I was with Atem.

**End of Chapter 6 of When They Realize! I'm really sorry for the late update... But at least now they know each other's feelings and it wasn't too cliche. Hopefully. Oh well... I'll try to update when I'm free, whenever that will be... I LOVE YOU ALLLLLLLLLL!**

**PharaohsLuver OUT!**


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